It’s the 21st century where smoking and drinking have become a symbol of social acceptance among a majority of teenagers. If you do not drink, then you are a dull person and no girl/boy would ever fall in love with you, boohoo. Snap out it. Look around you. Unlike popular opinion, alcohol consumption is not a necessity of society.

Do I have your attention? Good.

In this blog post, you and I are going to take some serious discussion of how can you, as a teenager, identify if the train you are on is going to the destination Alcohol Use Disorder or not. And if you find yourself aboard, how can you find the emergency exit? We will call Alcohol Use Disorder as AUD.

Alcoholism is a DISEASE

If you are treating regular alcohol consumption as just a foul habit, then you might want to reconsider your decision. Over the years, there have a number of studies conducted which goes back to 1985 and have shown that the rising use of drugs among the youth of the nation is adding and raising the risk to develop a substance use disorder (SUD) in the youth.
If you divert your attention to the table below, this was published in a paper titled ‘Likelihood of developing an alcohol and cannabis use disorder during youth: Association with recent use and age’ written by K. C. Winters & C. Lee.
The table discusses a demographic breakdown of recent onset of alcohol users.
Out of 4074 people surveyed, 3499 were aged from 12 to 19. You can see that respondents of age 15 and 16 have a percentage response of alcohol consumption of 14.7% and 14.5% respectively.
Still do not think it is not an issue?

Signs of Alcohol Use Disorder

There are neural and psychological effects of alcohol use disorder on the human mind. The first signs that you start experiencing while progressing towards alcoholism are discussed below -

You start experiencing temporary blackouts

Alcohol consumption prevents memories to form. Hence, when you consume too much alcohol, you experience a blackout. But when this blackout starts occurring too frequently and even when you are not drinking, time to get it checked by a doctor, mate.

Extreme mood swings

Having mood swings during PMS is something else entirely. If you are a man, there is not the way you would experience mood swings because of that. So, what might be the reason for your constant irritation and mood swings, male or female, PMS or no PMS?
Alcohol abuse can cause that. When your body starts depending on alcohol as a depressant, the effect you are after starts wearing out.

Feeling like having a drink after every few hours

After a long and tiring day, the need to have a glass of wine or bourbon or whiskey, whatever you prefer, is a natural urge when you are an alcoholic. When you develop a psychological addiction to alcohol and feel obliged to have a drink, then you, my friend, are an alcoholic.
If you get hyper frequently and it takes a shot of tequila to calm your nerves down, then you are very likely on the path of AUD.

Have high alcohol intolerance

If you feel proud when you are able to chug 10 cans of beer in a minute and still stand still, then you should reconsider your position. Because this is not something you should be proud of and put up on your Instagram bio.
Developing a high intolerance for alcohol is a sign of developing an addiction to alcohol or chronic alcohol disorder.

The first step of recovery is admitting you are an alcoholic.

“I was an alcoholic and I have been sober for 6 years. I always got into a fight with my wife over my drinking habit but never for once, I admitted that I was an alcoholic. Never. I always a glass of whiskey in my hand - home or work. Until I got into an accident and lost my wife. That changed me.”
The internet is filled with such stories which are horrifying, sad, heavy and unpleasant. Being a teenager does not change anything for you.

There is no medical cure for the treatment of alcohol use disorder.

But that doesn’t mean people do not turn sober, does it? There are several ways that can help you control the urge to drink and put you on a path of recovery. And that journey starts by admitting that you are an alcoholic.
Trust me, it takes more courage than you can muster to confront yourself and admit this bitter truth. But once you accept it, the recovery becomes easy. Half the battle is already won.
To cure alcoholism, you can try any of the following therapies -

Behavioural therapies

This therapy identifies the behaviour due to which you feel like drinking. These triggering situations that cause a craving for alcohol are identified in this therapy and the behaviour is substituted by other behaviours.
This therapy also deploys motivational procedures to keep the person motivated for staying sober and try to solve the issues due to which the person resorted to drinking.

Mutual help

Connecting and getting support from the people who have been down the same road as you and have emerged victorious is a keystone to alcoholism treatments.
In mutual help, you get coaching and resources to aid a person stay sober and on the track of treatment. Mutual help also contributes to the abstinence of the person.
Do not take it lightly because Alcohol Use Disorder in teenagers is a DISEASE and it is very real. Get professional help and get down this fun ride before it is too late.
This blog was compiled with the help of PhD scholars and nursing assignment help experts at My Assignment Services, a leading assignment help provider.